China records 8.5% uptick in marriages as new policies kick in
Incentives for Chinese couples to wed appear to be bearing fruit, a piece of positive news as the country’s population shrinks and ages
China recorded a year-on-year uptick of 8.5 per cent in marriage registrations over the first three quarters of 2025, a rare piece of positive demographic news as the country’s population continues to shrink and rise in average age.
The increase suggests that a host of recently introduced pro-marriage policies are starting to pay off, but experts cautioned the number of marriages would still decline over the long term as the pool of younger adults dwindles.
A total of 5.15 million couples registered for marriage in the first nine months of the year, according to data released by China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs on Tuesday, compared with 4.75 million during the same period last year. The number of divorces also rose slightly to 2.08 million, up from 1.97 million a year earlier.
This data is closely watched in China, as historically there has been a strong link between the numbers of marriages and births, with extramarital births still considered taboo in many parts of the country.
But the country is now on track to record up to a 17.3 per cent year-on-year rise in marriages for the whole of 2025, with between 6.52 million and 7.16 million couples taking the plunge, according to an estimate by He Yafu, an independent demographer based in China’s southern Guangdong province.